Did Your Furnace Keep You Warm This Past Winter? Find Out Why Not

Apr 3, 2014

If the gas furnace in your Orlando-area home did not keep you as warm as you like this past winter, you may be fearful of a huge repair bill. Here are some simple solutions that may help you avoid costly service calls before next winter.

Power?

One of the simplest checks takes you to the fuse box or circuit breaker panel. Make sure the HVAC system’s fuse has not blown or its breaker tripped.

Valves and Fuel?

Your gas furnace is fed by either a propane tank or a natural gas line. Double-check that the control valve is open, so your furnace gets fuel. Is your propane tank full? Ensure your gas lines are not clogged.

Temperatures and Thermostats

Furnaces blow cold air when first starting. You can reduce the volume of cold air sitting in the ducts by adding insulation to accessible ductwork.

Ensure that each zone thermostat is switched to “heat mode” with the fan setting on “auto.”

Is the thermostat working? Perhaps you need to replace the batteries or reset the circuit breaker (if it is hardwired).

Too low a thermostat setting will not send a call for heat.

A programmable thermostat can sometimes get its program timings misaligned. During the time when you are home the heating system thinks the house is empty, or thinks it is overnight and the temperature is allowed to drop. Check the program settings.

Flame Out!

A dirty flame sensor can cause your system to blow cold air. A friendly, professional HVAC technician can clean the sensor, then make sure the whole system is working properly.

A pilot light (on older gas furnaces) can go out from a sudden gust, dirt in the line, or a clogged opening; relighting it is very easy, but you need to eliminate the cause of flameout.

More modern furnaces may use hot surface ignition (HSI) or an electronic ignition system, either of which can have multiple areas of failure. Consider having a professional technician diagnose these.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Orlando, Florida and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about furnaces and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.